Italy 1995

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Kate had a special KBS Thematic meeting in Greve in Chianti (Chianti, the wine region, is in the Tuscany political region of Italy) in October of 1995. We flew into and out of Rome with time spent in that "Eternal City", Greve in Chianti, Florence (Firenze in Italian) and a day trip to Pisa for the Leaning Tower and the coast at Viareggio to dip our toes in the Mediterranean. October is a nice time to visit: it's still quite warm, there's not as many tourists, and it's harvest time in the wine regions. This was our first trip to Italy and quite a learning experience. 

Rome, the Eternal City

In Rome we took a train from the airport (Leonardo da Vinci – Fiumicino Airport) into the old city and schlepped our bags over cobble stone streets to our nearby hotel. We stayed in rather sad little hotel not too far from the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Our room was quite tiny with a view of weather worn nearby buildings. I recall the bath tub was the tiniest I'd ever seen. The room seemed to have been severed from an existing larger suite and barely held two single beds – hardly enough room to change your mind. People have asked if we have any recommendations on where to stay in Rome; if you're staying within the old city, and you really should, accommodations are either frightfully expensive or just frightful. Nevertheless we were only there for a few nights and spent most of the time exploring the city so who really cares what your hotel room offers?

Ps. Since our visit in 1995, we see the "Elite" has become quite a posh looking place. Things change, even in the eternal city.

We fell in love with the old city. There are so many exciting surprises around every corner. On our first walk, we bumped into the Quirinale Palace (a former Vatican property which had been a papal residence) near the Trevi Fountain which we were trying to find. We explored the Spanish Steps, dropped a coin in the Trevi Fountain (to be assured we would return), and Kate fell in love with the Pantheon (the round domed church built around 156AD as a Roman Temple by Hadrian of Hadrian's wall fame). Around the corner from the Pantheon we stumbled upon the The Elephant and the Obelisk in the Piazza della Minerva, and while wending our way over to the Campo de'Fiori and Piazza Navona we bump into Trajan's Column. There's a surprise at every turn.

We of course visited the Vatican on the right bank of the Tiber. The Vatican is a separate city state within the city of Rome established under a treaty with the dictator Benito Mussolini 1929. But of course there's a long history with Italian city states, the unification of these to form the country of Italy in the late 1800's, and the role of the Papal states on the Italian peninsula. Mussolini had the trains run on time and managed to settle some space issues with the Pope.

On the way to the Vatican we crossed the Tiber at the historic and scenic St. Angelo Bridge with the St Angelo Castle at the Vatican side (built by Hadrian as a mausoleum but repurposed as a fortress for the popes). There's a nice photo of Kate on the bridge in the album.

St. Peter's Basilica (Michelangelo's architectural masterpiece) is fronted by a grand piazza designed by Bernini with the tall ancient Egyptian Obelix standing at its center. The grand columns to each side of the piazza define the space and lead one to the church itself. Kate is not that keen about visiting churches when we travel but here we are in Rome. At the entrance to St. Peter's there were some surly young men who seem to be employed as crowd control. Kate, who had purposely worn a dress (rather than shorts) to meet the dress code, was barred from entering because she was wearing a sleeveless dress with bare shoulders – she was delighted not to have to go in! Nevertheless, I entered and made a quick tour of the Basilica. We had hoped to climb the dome for the view but not without Kate. The main observation about St Peter's: it's huge with lots of gold leaf and impressive carved marble tombs. Here you'll find Michelangelo's Pietà – the mother Mary with the the body of the crucified Jesus on her lap. Having been attacked by a nut bar with a sledge hammer not too many years ago, it's now well protected ... which might also explain the surly young Italians guarding entry to the church.

At the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel Kate has better luck. The Chapel itself is quite large for a "Chapel". The "Last Judgement" over the alter and ceiling paintings by Michelangelo are brilliant, bright and impressive. They were restored recently and opened to the public in 1994. There is some controversy as the soot and muck have revealed an almost comic book clarity and vibrancy to the figures. We were impressed. Although I must say that the "Last Judgement" seems like a disjointed collection of scenes overburdened with too much blue. 

The Vatican Museums themselves are, like the Basilica, huge! They go on forever and you must walk through quite a bit to get to the Chapel with few benches for getting off your feet for a moment or two. But worth it. There's a lot to see within the Museum, we didn't find the medieval pornography collection – but not for lack of looking.

Leaving the Vatican behind, our next major visit was to the Roman Colosseum and the nearby historic Roman Forum ruins. There is a connection between the two – much of the Colosseum was stripped of its stone and marble to build St Peter's! Triumphant Roman Arches (think of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris as a modern equivalent) abound in this historic part of the old city. At the Colosseum there's Constantine's Arch, down the Via Sacra into the Roman Forum there's Titus' Arch and within the Forum there's the Septimius Severus Arch. These, like Trajan's Column, were to document battles and triumphs in ancient Rome. They were also looted and repurposed by one another as history fades, and new heroes need new arches to proclaim how great they are.

In the Roman Forum Kate posed as one of the Vestal Virgins with modestly covered shoulders. This is the place where Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March. I told him "Julie don't go" (from Wayne and Shuster). Et tu Katie?

At the far end of the Roman Forum there's a couple of interesting more modern structures. The Altar of the Fatherland (Altare della Patria) is a rather grand structure from the late 1800's to celebrate the unification of Italy under it's first king. I think it's also called "the typewriter" – it sort of looks like one with the stairs forming the keyboard. The more interesting, and much older structure, is the Capitoline Museum with the grand stair case and courtyard designed by Michelangelo. Michelangelo and Bernini pop up all over Rome – in the same way that you can't visit London without bumping into Christopher Wren.

We took a cab one day for a hillside view of the city from the Janiculum where you get a very good sense of how big the Pantheon is. There are also statues in the park we found interesting. There's a statue to a Zamboni guy but I don't think he had anything to do with the "Zamboni" we use here in Canada to ice rinks. From the hillside we took another cab back down the hill to the Trastevere area on the right bank of the Tiber where we had some lunch. We crossed the river and wandered through the old Jewish quarter and bumped into the Turtle Fountain – another one of those pleasant surprises round another back lane.

There's so much to see in Rome. History is found around every corner. We enjoyed our short visit and hope to return again.

Greve in Chianti

Our next stop after Rome is the small town of Greve in Chianti. Greve is mid way between the cities of Florence (Firenze) and Siena in the heart of the Chianti Classico region, in the Tuscany political region. 

If you like Chianti you'll learn that there's the wider Chianti Region with Chianti Classico at it's heart. Greve is smack dab in the middle of the Chianti Classico region. Chianti Classico is a DOC wine with the Black Rooster (Gallo Nero) as it's symbol. And of the Chianti wines from the various regions, Chianti Classico Reserva is the best (since our visit they now have a designation Chianti Superior which is supposed to be even better than Reserva). We tried a few (gosh we were there!), and developed a fondness for the wine. You may recall having Chianti wine bought in round based Fiasco bottles with straw baskets that hippies used as candle holders. We knew a bit about the wine and weren't going without any preparation: our friends Padric and Terry had spent years schooling us on the joys of this wine region. Chianti used to be a cheap plonk; however these days, with the DOC designation and changing times, it's become a very fine age worthy wine (or at least there's a range from cafe plonk to the very best). We luckily visited the Verazzano and Fontodi wineries/vineyards and of course sampled wines at dinners, at the Enoteca and even in our room and on the balcony overlooking the roof tops of the town.

Greve is a small town in a valley with vineyards on the hillside. I was expecting intensive viticulture as we have here in the Niagara Region but it's not like that. There are lots of vineyards but not the kind of intensive agriculture we have here. But on those hillsides they've been growing Sangiovese grapes (the core grape for Chianti) for wine for many, many years. 

Above Greve, to the west, is a small scenic hill top village Montefioralle. It's a reasonable walk through vineyards to this pedestrian only historic hill top village. It's beautiful but I have a hard time imagining living there. If you visit Italy you'll be amazed by how many hill top town and villages there are. Part of this is as an historical defense strategy (after all the city states became a country only in the late 1800's). It's a beautiful spot, a pleasant walk and well worth a vist.

There are a several funny stories about our visit to Greve. They all involve dinner.

The first story is our dinner at our hotel on the town square with the Verazzano Statue (the Verazzano bridge in New York is proof the Italians discovered North America!). We had come down to the front desk shortly after 6:00pm (perhaps it was 6:30, maybe 7:00) to enquire about dinner. The staff were busy with other things and ultimately communicated that we should go away: dinner would not be served until 8:00. As North Americans were expecting the dining room to serve at our schedule not at the chef's schedule but when in Rome (or in Greve), we do as the Romans do. 

We are the first at the door when the dining room opens at 8:00 (in retrospect we've come to learn that the appropriate time for dinner is more like 9:00). We are seated at a table with crisp white linen, a ton of cutlery, a ton of wine glasses and salvers under our plates. We order some Chianti, when in Chianti you order Chianti, and they then clear the salvers and take our glasses away. A little later our glasses return but now, apparently, they have been used! WTF is this? 

We learn what they have done. They've taken away the white wine glasses as we've not ordered a white as a "starter". They've taken the red glasses to prep them for our wine. They've opened the red, poured a bit into one glass, sniffed and swirled that glass to make sure it's fine, done the same in each glass, then the decanter, and finally tasted the wine before serving. This makes sure the glass has been rinsed of any detergent, etc. residues and makes sure that the wine is, in fact, presentable before serving. It also means you're returned a glass that looks like it's been used. We've learned.

The conference had organized several dinners at various wineries. One night all of us went to the Castello di Verrazanno. Another night the group was split up into smaller groups and went off to different wineries. We had a fine dinner at the home of the Fontodi Estate in Panzano just a little south of Greve up the hill towards Sienna. We ended up at the Fontodi Winery which, it turns out, makes one of the best Chianti Classico around and a Super Tuscan "Flaccianello della Pieve" that is to die for. There were perhaps 6 of us from the conference, a driver from the town council, the Manetti parents, their son Giovanni (about 25yrs), their daughter Giovanna (about 19yrs), and their wine maker from France. 

Gionvanni and Giovanna were obviously being groomed to inherit the business and they showed us around their wine making facility with the obligatory tour of barrel rooms. Giovanna was still in school in Florence. I recall she was studying marketing, which would be a good fit for the business. They were told we were "Doctors" from this important alcohol conference. They might have been disappointed were they to learn that the only "doctor" in the group was Kate and she's not that kind of doctor. And we were mostly dressed very casually. And I'm not at the conference at all!

We enjoyed a formal dinner prepared by their cook in the Manetti home. Most of them where dressed formally with suits and ties. At the table only the only ones beyond we conference attendees that spoke English were the two younger Manetti's so there were some awkward moments but we were certainly welcomed. They were well aware of the LCBO alcohol monopoly in Ontario and, since I our visit, I have seen their wines as special Vintage releases. The dinner was very nice, lots of courses, lots of cutlery and glasses, and each course accompanied by a sampling of their wines including the Flacianello (probably the finest wine I have ever tasted). 

I recall having home made Tiramisu for dessert -- the first time we'd ever had that Italian treat. I also recall that the serving spoon kept slipping away and having to be fished out! I recall making it at home at our return from this trip. These days we can find Tiramisu in the dessert section at many grocery stores. 

The last story dinner involves pizza. Kate had a bug on this trip (so much so that we ended up seeing an Italian doctor) and was feeling tough one night. She wanted to eat in our room and had sent me out to get a pizza from a nearby pizzeria. At the pizzeria I discovered that I didn't have my phrase book with me and struggled to order a "pizza to go". I don't know why I do this but rather than resort to asking "Do you speak English?" I struggle with mangled Spanglish/Frenglish/Italian anything but English and try to order a pizza "a porté". I'm stumbling and the server looks at me blandly and asks, "Do you mean you want a pizza to go?". Ah, the joys of travel, the relief that English is so widely spoken.

We had a pleasant few days in this sunny village. Really enjoyed ourselves and, courtesy the conference, got to visit a couple of wineries and have some fabulous meals.

Florence (Firenze)

With our conference friends, we took a bus back to Florence where we rented a hotel room in the city center near the train station. Florence, like Rome, is a wonderful place to visit with surprises around every corner. It was a powerful city state at the time of Michelangelo, Galileo Galileo and the Medici.

The Piazzale Michelangelo is a hilltop park over looking the city with good views of the Arno River, the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), the Palazzo Vecchio (the Old Palace is the current town hall) and the Dome & Bell Tower of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore which dominates the sky line.

Michelangelo's "The David" stands in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in an impressive city square (Piazza della Signoria) lined with other great works and another fountain to Neptune -- this one with bronze Satyr's grinning wickedly. This "David" is actually a replica, the real one is at the Accademia Gallery. There's several unfinished Michelangelo works there. You can also see more Michelangelo (and especially works by Botticelli) at the Uffizi Gallery which is just behind the Palazzo Vecchio towards the river. If you're ever in Florence you should book tickets ahead of time to get into the Uffizi else you will have to wait in a very long line. On a later visit at the Millennium we did that. This time we skipped the long lines and visited the Palazzo Vecchio, then the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens on the other side of the Arno a short distance from the historic Ponte Vecchio.

One afternoon while we were exploring the Piazza della Signoria and admiring The David a large troupe came through dressed in traditional garb of the middle ages. That was another pleasant surprise.

On the way to the Boboli Gardens and Pitti Palace through a somewhat seedy part of town we bumped into a lovely street corner fountain -- the Borgo Santo Spirito. Another surprise was the bronze boar (Il Porcellino -- the piglet). There's a replica of that at the University of Waterloo.

There are more surprises at the Boboli Gardens. The Fountain of Bacchus is an odd little surprise -- a fat nude dwarf sitting on a tortoise. The gardens are well maintained with another impressive Neptune fountain and there are good scenic views of the city. The Pitti Palace itself is a large museum with an impressive collection in gaudy rooms draped in gilt and adorned with paintings and frescoes from floor to ceiling. It's rather much to take in.

The Cathedral, back in the center of the old city, is huge, not as big as St Peter's of course but certainly a rival, and impressively clad in white and dark marble. There's a tall bell tower and impressive relief brass/bronze doors. Inside the cathedral you can ascend to the dome for views of the city. It's a bit of a climb and on the way you get some good views of the "Last Judgement" painted on the inside of the dome. The Satanic elements seem to have been made to scare the shit out of the faithful. The Black Death/Plague wasn't bad enough. 

There are lots of churches to explore. Galileo Galielo's tomb is in the Basilica of Santa Croce -- we paid a visit. It's a more modest church but likewise clad in white and dark marble. At Basilica of Santa Maria Novella there's an obelix standing on four bronze turtles. Michelangelo left two unfinished works at the Sagrestia Nuova in the Medici Chapels and the Laurentian Library for the Basilica of San Lorenzo.

On our last night in Florence we ate family style at a neighborhood Tratoria that our friends Chris Bois and Peter had discovered. We were sat a long table with others, were given a couple of bottles of cheap plonk (with beer crown caps, not corks!) and served a hearty, but simple, three course dinner. Then we were given the bum's rush out the door so that more could enjoy their evening meal.

Pisa and Viareggio

One day we took a train towards the coast to visit Pisa with its leaning tower. There's an impressive white marble clad Baptistery of San Giovanni, the Cattedrale di Pisa and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. They were busy working to stabilize the foundation of the tower so you couldn't go in or get to close. We did however go into the Baptistery -- a round church with impressive acoustics. Nearby there's the Camposanto (Cemetery) with some frightful frescoes from the Black Plague.

We had just a short visit to Pisa and then another short trip that day to the coast at Viareggio -- I must admit the name caught us. It's a seaside town with a large sandy beach. In October there were only a few souls wandering the shore. Kate got to put her feet in the Mediterranean.

Our Flights Home

We flew on a small turbo prop commuter plane from Florence to Rome where we were to connect to an Alitalia back to Toronto. Unfortunately there was an air traffic controllers strike/walkout/slowdown that made our life interesting. We didn't get in the air in Florence until about the time we were to leave Rome. At Rome I was pretty much resigned that our flight was gone and we'd have to figure out another day or so in Rome (which wouldn't have been a great hardship). Kate insisted we run through the airport to the departure gate for our Toronto flight. When we got there they were waiting for us! The plane had not left, but I believe we were the last to board.

We think Alitalia waited for us in Rome because Kate had insisted in Florence that they give us our Rome to Toronto boarding pass (which they were reluctant to do). 

Anyways, that's some of our adventures on our first trip to Italy in October of 1995.

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Finally, these notes and recollections were composed in November of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The images in the photo album are from a slide show prepared after that trip some 25 years ago. No scanner was involved, I copied the slides to my camera with macro photography.